The MeatEater Podcast - Ep. 568: MeatEater Kids I

Episode Date: July 5, 2024

Welcome to our brand new podcast, MeatEater Kids! It's a fun, educational, and engaging podcast for all of you outdoor kids. Learn about science and history from Steve's "Why It's the Way It Is" segment and impress your friends with your newfound knowledge, develop your ear for animal vocalizations with our "Guess that Critter" segment brought to you by Katie Rinella, and play long during "Kids Trivia" with host Spencer Neuharth Connect with Steve, Spencer, MeatEater, and The MeatEater Podcast Network MeatEater on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and YoutubeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

part one why it's the way it is today on why it's the way it is we're going to get into why is a teddy bear a teddy bear now i know people call them all kinds of things they call them stuffies fuzzies i don't know but teddy bears is kind of the original name for when you had like a little friend right that would you take the bed with you and carry around with you and at a time a long time, most of those little stuffies took the shape of a bear. And I'm going to talk about why that came to be and how that name Teddy Bear came into existence. And to understand this, you have to 1902, 120 years ago, the president of the United States in 1902 was named Theodore Roosevelt. People would call him Teddy Roosevelt,

though he didn't like that nickname. He might be the most important president in terms of wildlife and wild places in America. In South Dakota, there's a thing, Mount Rushmore, where there's these huge carvings in the mountain of different presidents' faces, four very important presidents. He's one of those presidents alongside George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Thomas Jefferson. Now, he was, just like he was a great conservationist and did a lot for wildlife in America and to preserve wild places in America, he was a very avid hunter, which seems funny now. It seems funny now to imagine a U.S. president who spends a lot of time out hunting bears, right? But that was a thing then.

And in 1902, Theodore Roosevelt was invited down by the governor of Mississippi to go on a bear hunt. Now, when the president comes down to Mississippi to bear hunt, they want to make sure he's paired up with the best guide, the best hunter they can find. And that hunter is a man named Holt Collier. Now, Holt Collier has a very interesting history that might be surprising to you. Holt Collier was an African-American man, and he was born a slave on a plantation in Mississippi around 1850. And at that time, it was legal in the southern states, it was legal for white people to own black slaves. They would make a slave work for them, but they didn't have to pay the slave. You could tell the slave when to eat, what to eat, who to marry, where to sleep.

You owned a person like property. And that's how he was born. And he, as a slave, killed his first bear when he was just 10 years old. And he became such a talented, exceptional hunter that his job as a slave was to hunt for game meat that could be fed to other slaves. Now later, all of the slaves were freed. Earlier I mentioned Mount Rushmore and a president whose face is on Mount Rushmore, Abraham Lincoln. Abraham Lincoln was the president who freed the slaves. After Holt Collier became a free man, he remained a very well-recognized, famous hunter.

So here you have this man who had been born a slave, who is now such a well-respected hunter, that when President Theodore Roosevelt comes to hunt, Holt becomes his guide. Theodore Roosevelt would later say that Holt Collier was the greatest hunter and guide I have ever known. But on this bear hunt, Roosevelt wasn't doing well. Other hunters were getting bears, but he wasn't getting a bear. And Holt Collier became worried that Roosevelt was going to be upset that he didn't get a bear.

One day, Holt Collier was out with his dogs, and they were tracking a bear. And he had told the president where to wait, because he suspected that as they tracked this bear with the dogs, the bear was going to come through a specific area. And he told the president, wait here. The president waited and waited, and the bear never showed up. So the president left.

And then guess what? Sure enough, a bear runs right through where the president was supposed to be waiting, but he wasn't there. But Holt Collier kept chasing this bear with his dogs. And eventually his hunting dogs caught up to the bear. And they did what's called bait it. They cornered the bear so the bear couldn't get away.

And Holt Collier rode up on his horse with a lariat, or a lasso, a rope, and lassoed the bear and tied the bear to a willow tree and then sent for the president and said, Tell the president I have his bear ready for him. Well, Roosevelt comes and he finds this bear that Holt Collier has caught and tied to a tree. And the president says it would be unsportsmanlike to shoot a bear that has been captured and tied to a tree.

He refuses to shoot the bear. Now, on this hunt, this might surprise you, but on this hunt, there were a lot of reporters, journalists, and they wrote about this. They wrote articles about the president not wanting to shoot a bear that was tied to a tree. And here's an interesting detail. It was a big bear. It was a 250-pound bear that Holt Collier tied to the tree. But when people made cartoons of what happened, they made cartoons where it was a little baby bear.

And this story really caught on. It became a story that everybody at that time knew about, that Teddy Roosevelt wouldn't shoot this little bear, that we know was actually a big bear, wouldn't shoot this little bear tied to a tree. Now, there was an inventor and a toy shop owner in New York named Morris Mitchdom. And Morris Mitchdom wrote to President Roosevelt

asking if he could name one of his stuffed toy bears a teddy bear. And Roosevelt gave him permission to do so. That man began mass producing the bears and founded a company called the Ideal Toy Company and they produced so many teddy bears that the name just took hold to the point where anyone who made a little stuffed bear would call it a teddy bear so today if you see a little stuffy shaped like a bear and someone refers to it as a teddy bear what they're talking about is teddy roosevelt in his great mississippi bear hunt with Holt Collier in 1902. And as a little extra note at the end of the story,

Holt Collier became the only African American to have a National Wildlife Refuge named after him. The Holt Collier National Wildlife Refuge in Mississippi is there today. You can go there and explore and go duck hunting. And remember that famous day of Holt, Teddy, and the bear tied to a tree. Part 2, Guess That Critter. It's time for Guess That Critter, where we play animal sounds and you've got to guess what animal is making those sounds. And don't worry, we'll throw in some clues along the way.

This noise from a member of the deer family is usually heard in late September or early October during the mating season. Males of this species can weigh up to 1,600 pounds and reach up to six and a half feet tall at the shoulder. They have the largest antlers of any animal in the world. Here's what the male sounds like. Now, back to the female's noise. Females can weigh up to 1,000 pounds or half a ton. These animals are strong swimmers and have a great sense of smell and hearing. They can detect calls like these... ...from almost five miles away. Okay, it's time for the reveal.

It's a moose! These woodland giants are found in all northern U.S. states bordering Canada, which includes our biggest state, Alaska, as well as in Colorado, Utah, and Massachusetts. If you're out and see a moose, keep your distance and back away, since they can be mighty aggressive when scared or harassed. The Blackfeet word for moose translates to black going out of sight, referring to the moose's color and probably related to how these huge animals can still manage to disappear into dark forests when scared.

Make sure to join us next week for Guess That critter. Part 3. Trivia! And now, it's time for Meat Eater Kids Trivia, the other only game show where conservation always wins. This is a quiz show for kids who love the outdoors. Take it away, Spencer. Today I'm joined by Jimmy, Rosie, Matthew, Ina, Mabel, Hayden, Conley, Reed, and Bay. Each player will earn $10 for conservation with every question they get right.

Today, there's a potential for this room to earn up to $270. This week, that donation is going to the National Wildlife Federation, who publishes the kids' magazine, Ranger Rick. Let's see how much money our players can raise. Question one. Which of these fish is not native to North America? Is it carp, bluegill, or walleye? Two of those fish are native.

One of them is not native. Your three choices are carp, bluegill, or walleye. Jimmy, do you know this answer? I think so. Okay. How about over here? Hayden, you got this one right? I'm pretty sure I got it.

Which of these fish is not native to North America, carp, bluegill, walleye? Does everybody have an answer? I see some cheating happening over here. Are you changing your answer now? Yes. You are? Because I don't think I'm right. How do you know your answer wasn't right?

Um, I just think I'm wrong because I have no idea what this is. Okay. What are the answers again? Carp, bluegill, or walleye. If I get this wrong, I've officially failed my father. You think so? Yeah. Okay, we just won't let him hear it.

Are we ready? Go ahead and reveal your answers. We have Ina saying carp. We have Rosie saying carp. Bae saying carp. Mabel saying carp. Jimmy saying bluegill. Reed saying bluegill. Matthew saying walleye.

Conley saying carp. Hayden saying carp. The correct answer is carp. We did pretty well. The girls did especially well. I think we went four for four over here. Well done. Bluegill and walleye have a similar native range, which encompasses about 40 states east of the Rocky Mountains. Carp come from Europe and Asia. Common carp have been here for about 150 years. The people who brought them here did it because they loved eating carp. Who in this room has caught a carp? Jimmy? Just Jimmy? I don't know. Matthew? Maybe. I'm pretty sure I have. Rosie? What'd you do with that carp? Did you take it home and eat it? No. No. We didn't.

We let it go. So you don't think they taste as good maybe as they did 150 years ago? No, they're not good. Okay. They probably taste the same. I think maybe we got better options. Now, question two. If an antelope is running 30 miles per hour, then how far can it get in 20 minutes?

Is it 5 miles, 10 miles, or 15 miles? Could I have to do some math here? If an antelope is running 30 miles per hour, then how far can it get in 20 minutes? This is some real schoolwork we're doing here. It's probably maybe the least fun trivia question you'll get, but there's an antelope in it. So that makes it a little more fun. If an antelope is running 30 miles per hour, then how far can it get in 20 minutes?

Five miles, 10 miles, 15 miles. See, some of our players are doing math. Ina, how are you at math? I love math. You do? It's definitely my favorite subject. Arena, how are you at math? I love math. You do? It's definitely my favorite subject. Are you going to get this one right? I hope so.

I'm kind of freaking out right now because my brain is not working. Five miles, 10 miles, 15 miles. How far can that antelope get running 30 miles per hour in 20 minutes? Hayden, you think you got this one right? Pretty much guessing. Pretty much guessing? That's no way to do math. Bae, are you any more confident?

No. Okay. Everyone seems like they're guessing, except for maybe Ina. Said math is a strong suit. Yeah, I got it too. Jimmy, you thought you had the last one. I tried to do standard algorithm multiplication, but I ended up with an answer that wasn't on there. Okay, that's a lot of words to say you're guessing.

Is everybody ready? Reveal your answers. We have Ina saying five miles. Rosie saying ten miles. Bae saying ten miles. Mabel saying ten miles. Jimmy saying ten miles. Reed saying ten miles.

Matthew saying ten miles. Conley saying ten miles. Reed saying 10 miles. Matthew saying 10 miles. Conley saying 10 miles. Hayden saying 15. The correct answer is 10 miles. Yes. Our players did pretty well. Antelope can run 60 miles per hour in short bursts and can run 30 miles per hour for long distances.

They could run a 26-mile marathon in just 52 minutes. Giannis said he could run a marathon in three and a half hours. That means the antelope could complete the marathon, watch seven episodes of SpongeBob, and still have five minutes to spare before Giannis would reach the finish line. Now, for those who got it right, how'd you come up with the right answer? I just guessed. Okay, that's one way who got it right, how'd you come up with the right answer? I just guessed. Okay, that's one way to get it right.

Math. Math. Math. So you figured out how that antelope made it 10 miles. Is there a lot of guessing there, or did some of you actually know it? Well, I picked the one in the middle. I just thought that it couldn't run 15 miles in 20 minutes. That's reasonable.

Question three. Which state is known as the Grand Canyon State? Is it Arizona, Nevada, or Texas? Which state is known as the Grand Canyon State? Your three choices are Arizona, Nevada, and Texas. Mabel, are you cheating again? No. Okay.

You know, your dad does the same thing when we're playing trivia. He likes to watch the other players come up with their answer, and then he bases his answer off of their reaction. Wow, Giannis. It might work. I'm just looking around to see if people are like, right away, I know it, or just, oh, I'm not sure. Same thing your dad does.

Which state is known as the Grand Canyon State? Arizona, Nevada, or Texas? Does everybody have an answer? Yes. I want to change mine. Yes. You can't change it now, Matt. There's no going back.

Are we ready? Good. Go ahead and reveal your answers. We have Ina saying Arizona. Rosie saying Arizona. Bae saying Arizona. Rosie saying Arizona. Bay saying Arizona. Mabel saying Nevada. Jimmy saying Nevada.

Reed saying Nevada. Matthew saying Texas. Conley saying Arizona. Hayden saying Arizona. The correct answer is Arizona. The room did pretty well. Some of its other nicknames are the Copper State and Apache State. The Grand Canyon is over a mile deep and 10 miles wide in some places.

By some measurements, it's the third deepest canyon in the world, behind canyons in Peru and Nepal. Have any of you ever been to the Grand Canyon? Nope. Okay. I'm learning about the Grand Canyon in school right now. And did you get that one right? No.

No. They didn't tell you what state it's in? Or did they tell you it's Texas? Maybe your teacher was wrong. Well, we watched a video on it, and I just forgot so quickly. Okay. Arizona. Eh, kind of looks like Texas.

Now, that's it for today's round of trivia. Phil the Engineer, how much money did we raise? They raised $190. $190 out of a potential $270. That's $190 going to the National Wildlife Federation. Well done, kids. Join us next time for more Meat Eater Kids trivia, the only other game show where conservation always wins.

Thank you so much for listening. We really hope you enjoyed the episode. Now get outside and be sure to tune in next week for another episode of... MeatEater Kids!